Identity Management Lessons from Sarah Palin

By now many of you have already heard about the hacking of Alaska Governor Sarah Palin's Yahoo email account earlier this week (on or about Tuesday 9/16/2008). If not, here is a brief synopsys of the story.

Sarah Palin's personal Yahoo email account was compromised and the contents of her account (including her address book, inbox, and several family photos) were posted to the Internet.

Someone with the email address of rubico10@yahoo.com posted a message on the website 4chan about how he used Yahoo! Mail's password-recovery tool to change the Alaska governor's password and gain full access to her email account.

"i am the lurker who did it, and i would like to tell the story," rubico10@yahoo.com wrote.

(I have included the full text at the bottom of the post for those interested. Be forewarned that some of the language is NOT family friendly.)

The rubico10@yahoo.com email account has been linked to 20-year old David Kernell; son of democratic Tennessee state representative Mike Kernell and a student at the University of Tennessee-Knoxville. While David has not been included in any official investigation as of yet, his father, has confirmed that the person being the subject of the many blog posts and news articles around the Internet is indeed his son.

So how did the alleged hacker do it?

First of all, he had to identify Sarah Palin's email address to be gov.palin@yahoo.com. A recent article in the Washington Post indicated that Sarah Palin was using a personal email address of gov.sarah@yahoo.com to conduct government business. But that was not the email account that got hacked. So how do you get from gov.sarah@yahoo.com to gov.palin@yahoo.com?

Allahpundit posted an article on hotair.com that presents some interesting ideas about how the hacker might have arrived at the gov.palin@yahoo.com account, but for the time being (and void of any conspiracy theories) let's just assume he figured it out.

Now that he had the email address, how was he able to gain access to the account?

The hacker claims to have used Yahoo! Mail''s password-recovery tool to reset the password. To do this, you simply go to Yahoo! Mail and click on the Forget your ID or password link.

This takes you to a page where you enter your Yahoo! ID. In the case of Sarah Palin's account, this would be "gov.palin".





To reset your password with Yahoo! Mail, you can either have it sent to your secondary email address or you can indicate that you no longer have access to this account.

(As a side note, I do not particularly like the fact that Yahoo! shows even a portion of my secondary email account in the email address HINT. But that is another story. )

Selecting the "I can't access my alternate email address" radio button allows you to answer questions to challenge questions as follows:





These are generic authentication questions, but in the case of Sarah Palin, the hacker had to answer one additional question that had to do with where she met her husband. The hacker guessed that Alaska's governor had met her husband in high school, and knew the Republican vice presidential candidate's date of birth and home Zip code, the Associated Press reported. Using those details, the hacker was able to successfully access Palin's email account where he was able to assign a new password of "popcorn".

The rest is simply news.

So what does the hacking of Sarah Palin's email account tell us about security and identity management in general?

One of the big benefits of an identity management solution is that it provides end-users with a way to update their own data and reset their own passwords. This is a HUGE cost reduction for companies as it reduces the number of calls to the Help Desk. But just like everything else, there has to be a careful balance between security and convenience.

Authentication questions provide a means for users to gain access to their accounts when they have forgotten their passwords. This is the mechanism that Yahoo! Mail uses and has been adopted by many identity management solutions. Authentication questions are extremely convenient for companies that have password policies that are so stringent that their users cannot remember their passwords. They also come in handy after three-day holiday weekends as the day that employees return to work typically generates numerous calls to the Help Desk for password reset.

While authentication questions are convenient and produce a cost savings, a company does, however, need to take care when providing this solution. Who decides what the questions are and what happens if the end-user does not have an answer for a particular question? These are some of the issues that need to be considered. I have seen questions all over the board. Below are some of the ones that I find particularly insecure since many of them can be answered by Google searches or social engineering. In some cases, the questions cannot be answered with one answer and some cannot be answered at all.

Questions that can be answered by social engineering or search:

• What is your mother's maiden name?
• In what city where you born?
• In what year where you born?
• What was your first school?
• What was your first phone number?

Questions that might not be answered at all:

• Who is your favorite superhero?
• What is your pet's name?
• What is your library card number?
• What was your first teacher's name?
• What is the air speed velocity of a coconut-laden swallow?

If you force a user to provide answers that are easily obtainable, then your risk is drastically increased (just ask Sarah Palin). If you force users to answer questions that are difficult (or impossible) to answer, then then your risk is also increased as the user may just provide a common answer to all questions (i.e. "blue"). So either way you go, it can be a difficult decision to make.

I have found that one of the best mechanisms is a an approach that allows the end user to define their own set of authentication questions while the company provides a sample set of common (yet hopefully secure) questions as well. This allows the company to have certain control, but also allows the user the ability to provide questions and answers using information that only they know. Now, I know that some may argue that users typically pick the path of least resistance and that many of them will pick easy questions (and therefore have easy answers) but by combining a set of the company-specific questions in addition to those supplied by the user the company can bridge the gap between security and convenience.

By the way, if you use an application that allows you to provide your own authentication questions, then I STRONGLY suggest that you go and provide your own security question(s) to one(s) that have meaning and applicability to you.

Here is the synopsis of what rubico said at 4chan:

rubico 09/17/08(Wed)12:57:22 No.85782652 Hello, /b/ as many of you might already know, last night sarah palin’s yahoo was “hacked” and caps were posted on /b/, i am the lurker who did it, and i would like to tell the story. In the past couple days news had come to light about palin using a yahoo mail account, it was in news stories and such, a thread was started full of newfags trying to do something that would not get this off the ground, for the next 2 hours the acct was locked from password recovery presumably from all this bulls**t spamming. after the password recovery was reenabled, it took seriously 45 mins on wikipedia and google to find the info, Birthday? 15 seconds on wikipedia, zip code? well she had always been from wasilla, and it only has 2 zip codes (thanks online postal service!) the second was somewhat harder, the question was “where did you meet your spouse?” did some research, and apparently she had eloped with mister palin after college, if youll look on some of the screensh**s that I took and other fellow anon have so graciously put on photobucket you will see the google search for “palin eloped” or some such in one of the tabs. I found out later though more research that they met at high school, so I did variations of that, high, high school, eventually hit on “Wasilla high” I promptly changed the password to popcorn and took a cold shower… >> rubico 09/17/08(Wed)12:58:04 No.85782727 this is all verifiable if some anal /b/tard wants to think Im a troll, and there isn’t any hard proof to the contrary, but anyone who had followed the thread from the beginning to the 404 will know I probably am not, the picture I posted this topic with is the same one as the original thread. I read though the emails… ALL OF THEM… before I posted, and what I concluded was anticlimactic, there was nothing there, nothing incriminating, nothing that would derail her campaign as I had hoped, all I saw was personal stuff, some clerical stuff from when she was governor…. And pictures of her family I then started a topic on /b/, peeps asked for pics or gtfo and I obliged, then it started to get big Earlier it was just some prank to me, I really wanted to get something incriminating which I was sure there would be, just like all of you anon out there that you think there was some missed opportunity of glory, well there WAS NOTHING, I read everything, every little blackberry confirmation… all the pictures, and there was nothing, and it finally set in, THIS internet was serious business, yes I was behind a proxy, only one, if this s**t ever got to the FBI I was f****d, I panicked, i still wanted the stuff out there but I didn’t know how to rapids**t all that stuff, so I posted the pass on /b/, and then promptly deleted everything, and unplugged my internet and just sat there in a comatose state Then the white knight f****r came along, and did it in for everyone, I trusted /b/ with that email password, I had gotten done what I could do well, then passed the torch , all to be let down by the douchebaggery, good job /b/, this is why we cant have nice things

Submitted By: Bill Nelson (bill.nelson@gca.net)

Directory Servers vs Relational Databases

An interesting question was posed on LinkedIn that asked, "If you were the architect of LinkedIn, MySpace, Facebook or other social networking sites and wanted to model the relationships amongst users and had to use LDAP, what would the schema look like?"

You can find the original post and responses at http://www.linkedin.com/answers/technology/software-development/TCH_SFT/296425-23753864

After reading the responses from other LinkedIn members, I felt compelled to add my proverbial $.02.

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Directory Servers are simply special purpose data repositories. They are great for some applications and not so great for others. You can extend the schema and create a tree structure to model just about any kind of data for any type of application. But just because you "can" do something does not mean that you "should" do it.

The question becomes should you used a directory server or should you use a relational database. For some applications a directory server would be a definite WRONG choice, for others it is clearly the RIGHT one, for yet others, the choice is not so clear. So how do you decide?

Here are some simply rules of thumb that I have found work for me:

1) How often does your data change?

Keep in mind that directory servers are optimized for reads - this oftentimes comes at the expense of write operations. The reason is that directory servers typically implement extensive indexes that are tied to schema attributes (which by the way are tied to the application fields). So the question becomes, how often do these attributes change? If they do so often, then a directory server may not be the best choice (as you would be constantly rebuilding the indexes). If, however, they are relatively static, then a directory server would be a great choice.

2) What type of data are you trying to model?

If your data can be described in an attribute:value pair (i.e., name:Bill Nelson), then a directory server would be a good choice. If, however, your data is not so discrete, then a directory server should not be used. For instance, uploads to YouTube should NOT be kept in a directory server. User profiles in LinkedIn, however, would be.

3) Can your data be modeled in a hierarchical (tree-like) structure?

Directory servers implement a hierarchical structure for data modeling (similar to a file system layout). A benefit of a directory server is the ability to apply access control at a particular point in the tree and have that apply to all child elements in the tree structure. Additionally, you can start searching at a lower (child element) and increase your search performance times (much like selecting the proper starting point for the Unix "find" command). Relational databases cannot do this - you have to search all entries in the table. If your data lends to a hierarchical structure then a directory server might be a good choice.

I am a big fan on directory servers and have architected/implemented projects that sit 100% on top of a directory, 100% on top of relational databases, and a hybrid of both. Directory servers are extremely fast, flexible, scalable, and are able to handle the type of traffic you see on the Internet very well. Their ability to implement chaining, referrals, web services, and a flexible data modeling structure make them a very nice choice to use as a data repository to many applications, but I would not always lead with a directory server for every application.
So how do you decide which is best? It all comes down to the application, itself, and the way you want to access your data.

A site like LinkedIn might actually be modeled pretty well with a directory server as quite a bit of the content is actually static, lends well to an attribute:value pair, and can easily be modeled in a heirarchical structure. The user profiles for a site like facebook or YouTube could easily be modeled in a directory server, but I would NOT attempt to reference the YouTube or facebook uploads or the "what are you working on now" status with a directory server as it is constantly changing.

If you do decide to use a directory server, here are the general steps you should consider for development (your mileage may vary, but probably not too much).

1. Evaluate the data fields that you want to access from your application
2. Map the fields to existing directory server schema (extend if necessary)
3. Build a heirarchical structure to model your data as appropriate (this is called the directory information tree, or DIT)
4. Architect a directory solution based on where your applications reside thorughout the world (do you need one, two, or multiple directories?) and then determine how you want your data to flow through the system (chaining, referrals, replication)
5. Implement the appropriate access control for attributes or the DIT in general
6. Implement an effective indexing strategy to increase performance
7. Test, test, test

Submitted By: Bill Nelson (bill.nelson@gca.net)

Lessons Learned from Enterprise Identity Management Projects

I have been implementing and/or managing identity-related projects for over ten years now and I can say from experience that the biggest problem with any identity management project can be summed up in one word - EXPECTATIONS.

It does not matter whether you are tackling an identity project for compliance, security, or cost-reduction reasons you need to have proper expectations of what can be realistically accomplished within a reasonable timeframe and those expectations need to be shared among all team members and stakeholders.

Projects that fail to achieve a customer's expectations do so because those expectations were either not validated or were not shared between all parties involved. When expectations are set (typically in a statement of work), communicated (periodic reports), and then reset if necessary (change orders), then the customer is much happier with the project results.

Here are a few lessons I have learned over the years. While they have general applicability to major projects, in general, they are especially true of identity-related projects.

1) Projects MUST be implemented in bite-sized chunks.

Identity projects are enterprise-wide projects; you should create an project roadmap that consists of multiple "mini" projects that can demonstrate an immediate ROI. The joke is, "How do you eat an elephant? One bite at a time." To achieve success with identity projects, you should implement them one bite at a time and have demonstrable/measurable success after each bite.

2) The devil is in the data.

Using development/test data that is not representative of production data will kill you in the end and cause undue rework when going into production. Use data that is as close to production as possible.

3) Start with an analysis phase BEFORE scoping the entire project.

I HIGHLY recommend that the first project you undertake is an analysis. That will define the scope for which you can then get a better idea of how to divvy up the project into multiple bite size chunks and then determine how much (and how long) each chunk will take. This allows you to effectively budget both time and money for the project(s).

Note: If a vendor gives you a price for an identity implementation without this, then run the other way. They are trying to simply get their foot in the door without first understanding your environment. If they say that the analysis phase is part of the project pricing, then get ready for an extensive barrage of change orders to the project.

4) Get everyone involved.

Keep in mind that these are enterprise-wide projects that affect multiple business units within your company. The project team should contain representatives from each organization that is being "touched" by the solution. This includes HR, IT, Help Desk, Training, and above all, upper-level management (C-level).

(The following items apply if you are using external resources for project implementation.)

5) Find someone who has "been there and done that".

Ask for references and follow up on them. More and more companies say that they can implement identity-related projects just because they have taken the latest course from the vendor. This is not enough; if training alone could give you the skills to implement the product, then you would have done the project yourself. You need to find someone who knows where the pitfalls are before you hit them.

6) Let the experts lead.

Don't try to manage an identity management project unless you have done so before - more than once. I have been involved with customers who have great project managers that have no experience with identity projects - yet they want to take ownership of the project and manage the resources. This is a recipe for disaster. Let the people who have done the implementation lead the project and allow your project manager to gain the knowledge for future phases.

7) Help build the car, don't just take the keys.

Training takes place before, after, and during the project. Don't expect to simply take "the keys" from the vendor once the project has been completed. You need to have resources actively involved throughout the project in order to take ownership. Otherwise you not be able to support the product (or make changes to it) without assistance from the vendor. Ensure that you have your own team members actively engaged in the project - side by side with the external team. To do this, you have to ensure that they are not distracted by other work-related tasks.

Submitted By: Bill Nelson